The rise was continued by the Athens Stock Exchange, which showed “consolidative” sentiment of 1200 points and the highest levels since the summer of 2014, while investors moved to a new (softer) round of placements in selected securities with large and medium capitalization. with a turnover of more than 200 million euros.

Although the day’s highs and 1,219 points led to some consolidation, the market continued to receive support from further improvement in the bond market, as well as from rating agency comments on the voting results, which strengthen, as they note, the possibility of an investment-grade recovery.

In the statistics of the session, the General Index closed up by 0.33% to 1205.3 points, and the turnover amounted to 222.1 million euros. The Large Cap Index closed up +0.02% at 2,959.98 points, while the Mid Cap Index closed up 0.62% at 1,721.6 points.

Goldman Sachs yesterday reaffirmed its constructive stance towards the Greek banking sector.

Among the non-banking blue chips, GEK TERNA stood out with a 4.84% gain, followed by Aegean with a 3.66% gain, while TERNA Energy and EYDAP posted over 2% gains. On the other hand, Ellactor and Jumbo recorded losses of more than 2%, while HELLENiQ ENERGY, PPA and Sarantis closed with losses of more than 1%.

The banking index fell by 0.37% to 987.77 points due to the fall of the National Bank by 3.43% and the loss of the Eurobank by 0.89%, however, Piraeus Bank closed with an increase of 4.09% and +1.09% Alfa Bank. Banking stocks have been in the spotlight of late, with Goldman Sachs reaffirming its bullish stance on the sector yesterday, confirming that Greek banks have some of the strongest liquidity/funding buffers in the Eurozone, with an average Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of 198% (vs. with an average of 153% in the EU). In terms of asset quality, Goldman expects the NPE ratio to continue to decline in 2023 and 2024 to 5% and 3.5% respectively from 6% in 2022, approaching its EU average. 2%-3%.

The American bank noted that the comments it received from investors show that the election results and the subsequent prospects for economic policy are considered by the market as an important component for a possible increase in Greece’s rating. There are many positive catalysts for further growth in Greek bank stocks, he said, including a possible upgrade of Greece’s rating to investment grade in the second half of 2023, an expected positive revision of earnings per share and more details about management’s plans to return to dividend distribution.

As for the overall image of the market, as noted by Petros Steriotis, managing director of CIF, the positive climate that previously existed on Athens Avenue found an outlet after the election: the overall index reached a nine-year high, and individual titles were like squeezed jumps in search of a new balance, as “the next day” leaves no room for doubt in the pro-investment assessment of the Greek political and economic chessboard. According to him, 1200 units of the General Index is now the benchmark for the next post-election/pre-election meetings and with an upward chart target of 1380 units.